December 01, 2018

Network Marketing in Politics - Reward and Risk

The odds are greatly improved on the fall of the Trump Administration.

Of course, those sorts of shifts don't happen overnight. Baby boomers recall how slowly the process was which achieved the resignation of U.S. president Richard Nixon.

But, as with Watergate, there will be plenty of collateral damage beyond the Trump Administration itself.

One influence entity which could get whacked is elite law firm Jones Day.

Since its then-partner Don McGahn represented the Make America Great campaign, Jones Day's signature has evolved into the go-to firm for the Trump Administration.

That branding has served it well. As Joe Patrice points out in Abovethelaw.com, Jones Day has been aggressively promoting that contact. That's what "network marketing" is all about.

However, every professional, from power player to the wage slave whose boss gets fired, knows the brutal dynamics of guilt by association.

Jones Day branding and actual business could be badly wounded if the current U.S. president steps down - or worse. The worse could include fighting back against allegations and being impeached and/or being convicted of a serious crime.

Not that Jones Day is entirely sitting pretty right now.

It not only lost the trial and all the appeals for client Sherwin-Williams in the California public nuisance lead paint class action lawsuit. Despite the insight available from continually hiring former U.S. Supreme Court clerks, Jones Day couldn't get that high court to review Sherwin-Williams' conviction. Now, as Forbes reports, predictably other municipalities are filing public nuisance class action lead paint lawsuits against Sherwin-Williams. It's possible lead paint could mutate into the next tobacco.

On Glassdoor, at its headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, employees give it a 2.7 rating out of a possible 5. The overall beef is that management doesn't seem to care.

At the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania office, partner Laura Ellsworth ran unsuccessfully for governor. On the plus side, that got her name into the politics loop. On the negative, a loss is a loss.

America operates a binary game: You will or you lose. The white space in between doesn't tally.

Ellsworth's obituary could start with that loser of a campaign. Or, it she acquires political skills and the right contacts, the first sentence in the obituary could salute her accomplishments in elected or appointed office.

Takeaway: If the Trump Administration slides into ruin, the barbarians at the gate could go on the attack against Jones Day.

Other lawyers may be able to poach some of its business.

Law schools could boycott its recruiting outreach on campus.

And, who knows, after the heated exchange between SCOTUS chief justice John Roberts and Trump, clerks could be discouraged from being interviewed for full-time employment at Jones Day.

Attention is the currency of the 21st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.